Indian Potato Soup

This is a recipe from the book "The Classic 1000 Indian Recipes" edited by Wendy Hobson. This book and it's vegetarian recipes are special to me because it was the first book that I ever followed a recipe from, way back when i was around 12 or 13 years old and what introduced me to learning to cook on my own. The recipes are simple but traditional and full of flavour.

This soup is simple in that it only requires a few ingredients and is spiced mainly with cumin, yet it is so addicted and more flavoursome in my opinion than the standard potato soup. I have been making it for years and it never disappoints me.

15ml/1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida (hing)
4 potatoes, diced
1 tomato quartered
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cups of non-dairy milk

1. Heat the oila nd fry the cumin seeds and asafoetida until the seeds start crackling (I usually just dry roast them until the seeds darken a little)

2. Add the potatoes and tomato, season with salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the water, bring to the boil and simmer over a medium heat for about 20 minutes. Then puree the soup in a blender or food processor or rub through a sieve. I like to leave some chunky bits of potato for contrast to the smooth texture of the puree.

4. Stir in the milk, return to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes before serving. (I have found with soy milk its best not to return to the boil as the milk can tend to separate instead just warm it up gently.)